Charlotte Osei, EC Chairperson
THE ELECTORAL Reforms Monitoring and Advocacy Group (ERMAG) of the Coalition of Domestic Elections Observers (CODEO) has appealed to the Electoral Commission (EC) to strengthen its systems for certifying and announcing results from the polling stations and collation centres nationwide.
ERMAG made the call in its third bulletin providing updates on the effectiveness of 5 of the 20 reforms which were implemented by the EC ahead of the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections.
It said the EC should adopt a more collaborative approach with the media on announcing results.
The move, according to ERMAG, “might generally reduce anxiety and foster more transparency in the election process.”
There was widespread public anxiety when the Chairperson of the EC, Charlotte Osei, delayed in officially declaring the results of the 2016 presidential election.
The EC had prior to the polls, promised to publish the presidential election results for each polling station on its website.
“The anxieties created by the delay in announcing results were exacerbated by attempts by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to announce provisional results on their own,” according to ERMAG.
“It is still troubling that over two months after the declaration of results, the EC is yet to publish the detailed polling station results on its website as was promised,” the group noted.
The Electoral Reform Monitoring and Advocacy Group is under the auspices of CODEO and it seeks to monitor and report on the implementation of the Electoral Commission’s accepted 27 reforms.
“The ERMAG will undertake a comprehensive assessment of the implementation of the 27 accepted reforms that the EC committed itself to implementing for the 2016 presidential and general election,” the release added.
BY Melvin Tarlue